Sweet Home’s competition cheer squad was the second-place finisher Saturday in the OSAA state cheerleading championships held at Oregon City High School.
The Huskies finished behind Newport with 99.30 points after a two-point penalty. Newport’s final score was 105.70 as the Cubs pulled off a flawless routine to top the eight-team 4A Division field.
Coach Amber Rosa said her team “had all the grit, talent and determination to win it this year, but unfortunately, fate stepped in.”
The Huskies were “absolutely wrecked” by a virus they picked up on their Las Vegas trip in late January, she said.
“We had kids out with fevers of over 103 for five to seven days leading up to state. One or two would come back and another couple would get taken out.
They pulled it together in Oregon City to score 34.40 in the Building Skills competition, in which Newport pulled ahead with a 37.10. The Huskies scored 30.90 in Tumbling and Jumps, while the Cubs topped the field with 32.10. They were the only teams to break 30 in that category.
In the Overall Routine judging, the teams were nearly equal, with Newport scoring 36.50 and Sweet Home 36.
North Bend was third with 92.10 points, followed by Philomath (89.70), Stayton (83.90), Cascade (83.10), Crook County (82.40) and Astoria (76.20).
“While it’s disappointing to not be in that top spot in a year that this team could very easily have won it, we could not be more proud of second,” Rosa said.
Despite the “fevers and weak bodies,” her squad was “relentless” in pursuing the win, she said, “and they gave everything they had in them to do so.”
“We were so proud of their determination, sacrifice and team-first attitudes.”
This was the 20th-straight year that Sweet Home has won a state cheer trophy, Rosa noted, adding that Sweet Home is the only team in the 4A division that has had that consistent success, and she said she expects more to come.
With a very young team with “big goals, I think we will see them do some pretty special things in the next few years and I look forward to seeing where they go from here.”